First Blood

in my attempts at a creative title for this post, i thought up what i thought was a jean-claude van damm movie title. being entirely ignorant in regards to the action genre of film making (can you even call it a "film" when you are talking about such quality acting and writing?), i decided to educate myself before publishing anything. it turns out i was wrong:



rambo. i don't think i've ever seen a rambo movie. i didn't know they had a title other than "rambo," "rambo part deux," and "rambo: we should have quit while we were ahead."

oh, well, i digress.

this post is really about izzie (or, "the iz" as she prefers to be called).



our princess.
she's nearly 7 years old and, although she still has every single talon-like claw, has never managed to hunt down anything except the occasional fly. and for the past 4 years, she's been pretty lazy when it comes to the fast ones.
our little girl is pretty good at finding things like spiders or bees and staring at them until we notice what's going on, but anything bigger -- well, she hasn't really been tested.
once, when we were living in barcelona, a pigeon flew into our apartment. yes, a pigeon. straight through the french doors from the balcony, through the living room and into the bathroom. and there it stopped. the iz, keeping a safe distance (about 25 feet, if i had to guess) cowered in a corner and clattered away at the bird and at me, as if i were the one whose natural instincts ought to urge me to chase (and perhaps even kill or eat) a bird.
she was useless & i was forced to chase that thing back out onto the balcony and into the air.
well, after nearly 7 years, she decided to prove her worth to us this week.
on tuesday i noticed that she was staring at the oven all day with such a fixed gaze that she would even let the boys crawl up and grab her tail. i was suspicious, but heard nothing and saw nothing.
on wednesday morning, she had moved from the oven to the pantry, still staring with the same intensity. again, i wondered if perhaps we had a squeaky visitor, but still heard & saw nothing -- even in all the times i was in and out of the pantry all day long.
yesterday, she was back to normal, lounging in the sun and worry free.
until...
after i went to bed a scenario unravelled that i am glad i was not there to see.
according to b, he was playing chess against some online opponent and noticed nothing strange. now, there have been times when i have tried to talk with him while he has been playing, and he hasn't heard a word i said, but he swears he neither saw nor heard anything out of the ordinary.
and then he felt her eyes on him.
he got up from the desk & turned on the light to see her mouth clamped down on the brown furry throat of a mouse.
eek!
good girl. i think we'll keep her.

spooning

they may have to stop doing this eventually. you know, by high school.

but in the mean time, i just can't get enough of it!

can't really figure out why the pic keeps uploading upside down, though. sorry.

potty talk

we've been dealing with some hard-headedness around the mitchell household lately.

gone are the days when the boys so sweetly lift up their little legs to assist with a diaper change. these days, they can't even be distracted with a toy or a tantalizing mobile dangling above their heads over the changing table. diaper change time is all out war at our house. before the pants are off, the spuds are rolling over, sitting up, trying to stand, reaching for something besides what i have to entertain them.

the worst is at around 8a.m. why? because that is when, without fail, they poop.

rolling around while i'm trying to change a wet diaper is frustrating. rolling around with a dirty one half on/half off is just plain nasty. i've given up on the idea of a cute changing table cover. we're down to the plastic that can be easily and quickly wiped down. hopefully before they step in their own poop or worse.

i just don't understand how it can be so irritating to them to allow me to remove the filth from their lives. i can't figure out what can be so pressing that they can't wait a moment for me to help them. and it boggles my mind how stubborn they are and how this happens time and time again -- they can't seem to remember that the end result is better and they can't trust me to get the job done.

but diaper changing is not the only time we are running into this attitude.

in order to keep the boys safe from stairs and cords and to give the cat a safe haven (and thus protect the guys from her wrath), i construct a barricade in the living room. a few stools laid sideways used to be sufficient. but it has had to become more and more elaborate -- not to mention solid -- as my teeny houdini has figured out countless ways to get around it or through it and make a break for the steps.

lately there have been screaming fits when he is unable to penetrate the barricade. it doesn't matter that every single good thing in his life is on his side of it. it doesn't matter that he can be closer to me if he just stays where he is. he is determined to go where he ought not go. i tell him no and even give him a better option, but his little mind is set in one direction and one direction only.

and he gets so mad.

he will even ram his head into the wall in an attempt to breach it.

and so it occurred to me the other day as i was fighting with my hard-headed rascals and trying not to lose my patience with them that i am god's child.

no, i take that back.

i am god's hard-headed infant. i have so much that i want to get done and so many plans of my own that i often can't take the time to let him clean up my life. i'd rather roll around in my own filth than suffer through a time of healing, learning, and cleaning. i just can't seem to trust him that his way is really better. i have been known to ram my head into closed doors, sure that where i want to go is right and not realizing that perhaps that road block is there for my protection or to keep me headed in the right direction.

and i get so mad.

so, like i said, we've been dealing with some hard-headedness at our house. i guess it runs in the family.

ahoy, matey!

they're done.

as of this morning, i have officially finished the boys' halloween costumes.

here they are in all their glory. my boys are ready to set sail on the black pearl in these lovely pirate costumes.



i really am kind of proud of these things. no pattern. just my imagination, walmart, hobby lobby and less than $12 for the two of them combined. and less than an hour's worth of work.
now it's time to move on to bigger tasks. daddy & mommy pirate still need costumes. let me tell you, if the little squirts don't go to sleep soon (and it doesn't sound like they are going to), i may pack them in the car and run to jo ann for some fabric. i'm that pumped about this.
this will be our first year dressing up as a family.
last halloween, mr. n was keeping us up till all hours & mr. w was still in the nicu. nobody felt much like wearing a costume. it was all we could do to hand out candy to the kids. come to think of it, neither b nor i did that. we passed that job off on my dad, who loves any opportunity to talk with a captive audience. and kids waiting with bags open as you dangle candy in front of them are just that -- captive.
so this year it has to be good. and i think it will.
watch out johnny depp, i think my boys may take from you the title of "cutest pirate ever."